A little place I like to call DES

Pssst - I have a secret to tell you - we get government assistance.  We are poor college students.  'Nuff said.  Now on to the story:

Today Scott and I had to go down to DES to renew our food stamps and insurance.  dripping sarcasm...Ahhhh, I love going to DES.  It is such a clean and nice place to be.  I can think of no other place I would rather spend my time.  

We waited for them to call our number for at least an hour and a half.  We did a great deal of "people watching" during this time.  My main thought for most of the women there was "hi sister, did you look in the mirror before you walked out the door?  Hmmm, no I think not, cause that "shirt" is not doing it for you."  Such nastily dressed women I have never seen.  One lady had her big fake boobies practically falling out of her tank top as she chased her 2 year old boy around the room - I wanted to cover Scott's eyes.  There were seriously so many large people with short shorts and short people with large hineys.  And the bellies. Yuck.  Seriously, people look in the mirror and cover some skin (and stuff)!  

When we finally got called we ran to the front desk and the lady helping us was a total crack up.  She was old and missing several teeth (I am sure she has the same insurance we do and it doesn't cover dental - they just pay for you to have them pulled, hence...toothless) but she was so happy and sweet.  She confided that tomorrow was her last day - she was retiring - tomorrow! Several times she said how she was so glad that she was old. She said she planned to travel and intends to go to California on Monday.  The plan is to walk along the beach and think of her coworkers "hmmm, I wonder what they are doing right now?" and then laugh to herself.  As part of the process we had to be fingerprinted and have our pictures taken.  When she took Scott's picture, she started giggling and couldn't stop.  There wasn't really anything too funny about the picture that I could see, but apparently something struck her as hilarious.  She was still laughing after we walked out the door.

Thanks sweet little lady for helping us at DES - you made the wait a little less painful in the end!

This one is for all my peeps from the family reunion

I am very sorry that many of you missed our rockin' Hatch Family reunion.  I have the best aunts, uncles, and cousins.  There is no one better!  The girls had some fun times making flowers and "crafting."  Sigh.  It was really fun!  So, if you weren't there, I am sorry you missed it and this post won't really make a lot of sense to you...

My lovely lovely friend Stephanie who taught me how to make cute headband flowers (you know the ones...) during our latest Relief Society activity just posted a tutorial for making JERSEY YARN on her cute family blog!  (This will just show you how to make the yarn part - you will have to remember the rest on your own until I get around to demonstrating it ...don't hold your breath).  So exciting, I know.  So here you go:

Now go ahead and cut it into 2" jersey yarn.  If you don't know how to do this, just cut strips in your shirt but stop 2 inches before the end....DONT cut all the way across!

Now put your arm inside and open the shirt up

now lay it out so that the intact side seem is in the middle

Now cut just the top layer from one incision to the previous one on the other side in a diagonal line... like this:

It should look like this when it's spread out a little

Now wha -la! you have one long continuous piece of jersey yarn.  I only ended up using half of this yarn for this project.

PS - this girl is seriously so talented in many ways...I especially appreciate her skills as our Primary Music Chorister.  Sheesh, jersey yarn and primary music.  What would I do with out ya' Stephanie?

Happy Birthday Scott (and other stuff)

Scott turned the big 30 on Sunday. Weird.  I think he had a pretty good day - a long afternoon "Sunday Nap" being a big part of the enjoyment.  We celebrated at the Smith's home with a big family dinner and yellow cake with homemade chocolate butter cream frosting.  YUM!  I am salivating just by writing that.

I gave him two A&F (yes, Abercrombe and Fitch - we roll that way) muscle polo shirts.  Yeah, my husband is HOT.  Scott had a gray polo shirt from A&F that he used to wear all the time.  I mean ALL THE TIME.  All you have to do is look at old pictures - almost guarenteed that he will be wearing that shirt in 50% of them.  We are talking favorite shirt of all time, wore it for 5 years until it was destroyed.  Anyway, these shirts are $60 a pop, new.  Sheesh - totally ridiculous!  The only justification for paying such an outrageous price for a shirt is the wear he gets out of it: $60 over five years time...you do the math. Anyway, he had to retire ol' gray a few months ago and no shirt has measured up ever since.

Here it is on a boat at Canyon Lake...

Standing next to Grandpa Thatcher, and his brothers, Josh and Dylan...

Family picture...one of many family photo shoots with this shirt...

Fourth of July a few years ago - whoot whoot!

On another boat - in California

On Huntington Beach pier (two summers ago).

I loved pulling up these pictures - it is a great way to post lots of pictures of my hubby since this post is about his birthday.  I really do think he looks great in that shirt!  Each picture was from a different occasion - none of these pictures was taken on the same day.  Also, they were incredibly easy to find since 'ol gray is literally in most every "special occasion" picture!

My plan for his birthday was to buy him a genuine replacement of ol' gray.  Imagine my delight and surprise when I went into the store and found a whole wall of polo shirts on sale for $25 each!  Whoot whoot!  There was no gray to be found, but one nice navy blue and one nice green shirt seemed to fit the bill.  He was surprised and pleased by my thoughtfulness. Okay, I am just assuming that he was delighted by my find but I am pretty sure he was happy about it.

Now for the most interesting part of this story...while we were walking around A&F Stephen had his shirt lifted up and was sticking out his chest - what the heck?  I kept telling him to put his shirt down - then I looked up at the massive posters of half naked men all over the store - duh!  Stephen was struttin' his stuff!  Needless to say he won't be going into that store any more!  (But kinda funny all the same.)

Laughing all the way

In the car one evening Stephen asked for a piece of mint gum.  I gave him one - he has proven very responsible with gum before - just chews it for a few minutes and then neatly spits in on a gum wrapper when he is done.  After a few moments of quiet chewing this conversation occurred:

Stephen:  Mommy when we get home I want to give you a big kiss on the cheek because my breath smells so minty fresh!

Me:  Oh yes, I would love that!  I am so excited!  I love kisses from you!

Stephen:  (we can hear him blowing out his minty breath at this point) hhhhuuuu hhhhhuuuuuuu

Scott:  What is that smell?  Oooh gross, I smell a skunk!

(I am slugging Scott in the arm at this point, trying to get him to stop teasing Stephen).

Stephen:  No, it doesn't smell like a skunk!

Scott:  Yes, I definitely smell a skunk.

Stephen:  That's not a skunk - that's my breath!

Scott and I both burst out laughing hysterically at this point.  Stephen (sweet, innocent little guy) was laughing with us even though he had no idea why.  We had tears streaming down our faces and Scott was about to pull the car over so he wouldn't crash.  Stephen giggled and laughed and every now and then repeated the punch line "That's not a skunk - that's my breath! "Which would set us all off again.  

After a while of that Stephen found some silly little thing to do that set Boston off laughing and they laughed the rest of the way home.  I don't think there is anything better than the sound of my two sweet little boys laughing together!

We had a great time riding in the car together - "laughing all the way."

Just a note - remember this blog land where all things are happy and perfect - right?  Just like most people, I don't like to write about the sad, mean, terrible moments with our kids - which happen just as often as these happy ones.  We have plenty of awful car rides too, but who can fault me for wanting to remember the good ones?  We are not perfect - we are very REAL!

Stephen and Boston

Stephen is into games..."will you play this game with me?"  Everything is a "game" for Stephen - sorting, tossing, or stacking anything!  He also loves real games like Concentration and Candy Land.

Most pictures I have of my boys together are just like this one...not very good!  But there is Boston, thinking about bugging Stephen by grabbing his stack of letters.

Stephen, enjoying his hard-earned fudgcicle after a hot nighttime "family run."  Scott and I have been participating in the Couch to 5K program and so we have been running 3 nights a week.  (I totally swear by this BTW but that is for another post).  During the 5 minute warm up walk, Stephen runs ahead of us.  I love watching his sweet little legs flashing ahead of me and seeing his arms pumping so hard (one swings back more than the other).  He is always so proud of his running skills and then he jumps into the double jogging stroller when Scott and I start to run.  

Hard to tell from this angle but this little guy is sound asleep with that book propped up!  I hope to see this sight many times as my boys continue to grow... you just can't beat a sweet little boy sleeping with a book in his hands.

Boston is walking really well now - here he is sporting his Superman cape by the jogging stroller, maybe hinting that it is time for a run??

Boston likes to dress up.  He is always surprising me with what he finds to wear.  The Superman cape is a favorite...he loves his black cowboy hat...the firefighter hat is a little on the heavy side but it looks so goooooood!  He had my apron on earlier today, and it is common to see him wearing a tie.  Literally, as I was writing this post, he walked into the room wearing my bra around his neck!  (That is a common one too!)

This was a newfound skill only developed today!  I walked into the kitchen to find Boston sitting on top of our little "art table," with two crayons in his mouth.  Oh crud...he is climbing!

He was very proud of himself and did not appreciate me removing him from his perch.

My boys keep me very busy and I am delighted with them every day.  They are so funny and I never know what they will come up with next.  Just when Scott and I get so frustrated with Stephen that we are about to explode, he will do or say something so cute and funny that we instantly forgive him.  Boston is still the baby and still gets away with most everything...something about those eyes!  I love my boys!

More Creations

I just came off a "crafting binge" where I sewed several nursing covers, a surprise for each of my sisters, and some other random craft projects.  Sometimes I can't get enough of creating, although, now I am in a lazy mode where I would rather watch movies or read books. Don't worry, I am sure the crafting bug in me is not dead yet!  The boys are still going crazy from being cooped up inside all day.  Stephen and I made a snake out of an old tie the other day, just for fun.  He loves to carry it around the house and sleep with it.  I have posted a few pictures of the things I have made.  This includes things from the past two months...

Couch Pillows for my Mom.  I wish that was my couch!

Found this little cutie at a yard sale for $5 and had to have it for organizing "little" crafting stuff.  I painted it the green color and sanded the edges a little.

Made these cute little buttercup bags (free pattern found here) for me and my sisters (I actually made four of them but one has already been claimed!)

Personal favorite...

Or wait, maybe my personal favorite is this one with my sweet little satin flower and rhinestone button?  Can't decide!

Scott was a particular fan of this craft....

Made a few nursing covers for my Covers by Camilla collection...

Stephen with his little tie snake buddy.

Summertime and the livin' is easy

Huntington Beach Pier

We are still slowly baking here in the Valley of the Sun.  Our escape to California for the 4th of July weekend was much needed but as usual, not long enough.  Scott and I enjoyed the fun of running during the daylight hours with temperatures under 70 degrees.  I tell you, breathing is a whole lot easier when your lungs are not being roasted.  I am able to run for 25 minutes (a little over 2 miles) now without stopping.  Can you believe it?  

Stephen walking with Grandpa Quist - giving a cheesy smile to show his full cooperation so he can get some kettle corn later.

Boston is walking like a pro now.  I hardly ever see him crawl - only when he is very tired or if he is in a huge hurry...like when I say "Boston, come get your PJs on!"  He tends to crawl away really fast then.  It is so fun to watch him toddle all over the place and he had a blast tagging along with his cousins at the Quist/Richardson house.  Those little rug rats all played their little hearts out.  They entertained themselves the entire time.  It was so relaxing to not feel the need to entertain them the whole time. 

Our little family at the end of the Pier.

Our little family at the end of the pier two years ago.

Stephen loved the beach as usual and was incredibly brave this time.  He played in the surf for over an hour, laying on his stomach and laughing like crazy every time a wave crashed into him.  He would try and "hold on to" the sand as the wave pulled him back.  He still has sand in his ears.  We attempted to keep the sand out of Boston's mouth as much as possible by keeping his pacifier in his mouth as long as we could.  Boston spent most of the time just sitting in the sand.  I don't know that he will be quite as obsessed about the beach as Stephen is but he seemed to enjoy himself.  He did finally reject his pacifier in favor of a few tiny sea shells he found.  I had to pull those out of his mouth a few times.  Yes, by the end of our beach trip, he had a very sandy upper lip and chin from "tasting" things.

The cousins eating a snack outside.

Stephen and Anna

Stephen, Anna, Boston, Jeremiah